8 Things I Will Accomplish This Summer
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Dress – Rustic Pineapple Boutique (on sale for $23.00 – I’m wearing Medium) | Jacket – Old Navy (on sale for $29,.97 – wearing size Medium) | Lip – Dose of Colors in Pinky Promise | Sandals – Burlington
I’ve been laying low for most of the last week, doing some soul searching and trying to figure out what the next few months are going to look like for me and my little family. I’m not going to lie, things have been pretty good recently – in my personal life, in my work life, and in my blog/business. I attribute it a LOT to the personal development work I’ve been doing in the last couple of months: identifying my self-limiting beliefs, working on positive thinking/manifesting, and trying to be more kind and compassionate in thought and action.
I’ve been spending every morning setting intentions for how I want my day, week, and month to look and decided yesterday that I wanted to set intentions for the whole summer. I started writing this post with the title “10 Things I Want to Accomplish This Summer” and started listing them out as ” I want to….” but I realized that doesn’t align with the mindset that I am trying to live. I’ve learned that there is so much power to the words I think, say, and put out into the world. So much can change when you adjust one word in a sentence. So, I rephrased this post from “want” to “will.” I don’t just want to accomplish these things, I WILL accomplish these things!
8 Things I WILL accomplish this Summer
I will lose 5 more pounds and continue to develop healthy eating habits. If you’ve been following my #icanbehealthy journey on Instagram stories, you’ll know that I’ve been working hard to take my health and weight seriously this year. It’s been kind of up and down, but in general, I’ve been the most dedicated to getting stronger than I ever have been in 10 years. A lot of people have told me “don’t worry about the weight, worry about how you feel” and while I TOTALLY agree that being healthy should be mainly focused on how you feel and not numbers on a scale, I also think it’s okay for numbers to be a part of your health goals (at least, for me.) This knee replacement of mine needs to last me as long as possible and a huge part of its longevity requires me to be at a certain weight. Too much weight on it will make it wear out faster.
Regardless, my biggest goal is to master my eating habits. I don’t want to make food unenjoyable for me (because food is one of my favorite things to experience.) However, I do want to make sure that I choose the carrots over the giant bag of m&ms and I want to be able to say “I’m full” even if there is still some food on my plate. I’ve been making some great process on this (keto has helped me a LOT) and I’m now getting ready to modify my diet a tiny bit to allow me to continue to pursue these goals. (More on this to come soon.)
I will create more purpose and community in the #yearofme Facebook Group. I started this group at the beginning of the year, after declaring that my word of the year was going to be “me.” I envisioned a community where women from all walks of life could come together, support one another, and encourage each other to make 2018 their best year yet. I’ll be 100% honest that after I started it, I had no clue what to do with it. I did a Spring Cleaning challenge in April that was fairly successful, but I wasn’t sure what to do once that finished.
This summer, I will figure out what I can do to get that FB group rocking and rolling – a place that is helpful, and joyful and a place where real friendships can be made. I’m still unsure of what that looks like exactly, but I WILL figure it out.
I will GET OUT and do more with my husband, family, and friends instead of living in front of a screen. I’m actually panicking that we’re already halfway through June and I have only put my swimsuit on ONCE! I feel like I spend so much time behind my computer (at work or at home) and I really don’t want my summer to go by without having experiences or feeling like I’ve missed out on creating memories. Plus, it’s super hard to write about living a Vibrant Life if I’m not out actually living one!
We recently got GetOut Passes and are so excited to fill our summer with endless activities, and I’m especially excited because there are a lot of things that I want to try that I would have been nervous to do before. The GetOut Pass is based in Utah and for one fee, you have access to a bunch of different activities (like rock climbing gyms, trampoline parks, mini golf courses, and bowling.) Each activity has different use options – some can be used as many times for the span of a year and others can be used once a quarter. The GetOut Pass also includes admission to Lagoon (our amusement park) and Cowabunga Bay (the water park!) which basically means the fee pays for itself. If you live in Utah and are interested in the GetOut Pass, you can use the code “CHELSIE15” to get 15% off the yearly fee!
Anyway, my goal is to spend the next two weeks getting ahead of myself when it comes to my blog and business and then choose one night each weekend to unplug from work and go DO things. I also have a few trips planned this summer, and we have a few trails we want to run in the Jeep, so I want to make sure I can enjoy each activity as much as possible, without stressing about being behind on blog projects.
Honestly, though, I’m really tired of not making time to LIVE my life and it’s time to make sure that I have no regrets this summer and pursue a vibrant life as much as possible.
I will hit all of my quarter 3 goals for my blog and business I set quarter goals for my blog at the beginning of the year and hit every single one of them for Q1. I was SO proud of myself and treated myself to my first prize – hair extensions! I didn’t come close to hitting any of my Q2 goals, because I was so unaligned with my blog and trying to figure out what my next steps looked like. However, I’m finding a lot of clarity when it comes to my blog recently and I have some strong Q3 goals for the summer that I can’t wait to hit! (My prize I’m working towards is a Kate Spade bag, and I REALLY want one!)
I will let go of the pressure to have kids right now. This is a little personal, but it’s been really weighing me down recently. I feel (and this is probably ME telling myself stories) that everyone is expecting us to be pregnant by now after announcing our miscarriage last year. To be quite honest, it’s been a way harder decision for me to be ready to start trying again and even though I know that this personal decision to be made just between me and Dustin, I feel like people are constantly waiting for us to announce we’re pregnant. While I DO want kiddos soon, I still have a few things on my radar that I want to finish up before I feel ready to try again. So, I’m going to release the pressure to get pregnant and not let it distract me from the other things I’m working towards.
I will hit my financial goals by the end of September – Without getting too specific, I have set three financial goals for myself to hit by the end of the year. Today, I’m deciding that I will hit them by the end of September instead. I have an amount of money I want to have saved, an amount of money I want to have made, and an amount of money that I want to have paid off (credit cards.) I’m already so, so proud of the progress I’ve made towards these goals this year and that’s why I’m moving the due date for these goals up to September – because I have been so laser-focused on hitting them and I’ve been working on manifesting money into my life.
I will express my creativity and identity through makeup and clothing I don’t know why, but I’ve been feeling lately really anxious about sharing my regular beauty and style content. I honestly think the root of it is the conversations happening about the comparison game happening on Instagram and how perfectly curated feeds can make users feel less than or not good enough. I have gone days without posting photos or stories because I’m afraid to contribute to that problem and nervous that others will feel bad when looking at the content I share.
Here’s the thing – I never, EVER want to make anyone feel like their life is less than mine because I share beauty or style photos or posts. My goal in writing them is NOT to encourage a vain or materialistic life in any way. It is, however, to help the everyday kind of girl be armed with as much information as she can have when she wants to treat herself to a new lipstick or dress. It is to show her that it’s okay to dress up and celebrate herself and her body. It’s to help her learn that living a vibrant life starts with loving herself and being proud of who she is and that there is NOTHING WRONG in showing that love and identity through fun makeup and clothes.
I discovered a whole new side of me when I started getting into makeup and I started to love my body again when I dressed it in things that I felt good in. SO, I’m going to let go of the stories I’m telling myself that people will judge me for sharing my journey and my identity by talking about style and beauty and I’m going to do it anyway.
I will be honest and transparent on the internet. The above goal goes hand-in-hand with this one. Because I want to share those fun things that make me happy in the hopes of helping other women find joy and confidence in themselves, but I also don’t ever want to sugarcoat real life. It’s taken me a long time to build up to being okay with being vulnerable on the internet, but opening up about the real struggles I have faced (PTSD, anxiety, miscarriage, depression) has created such a strong sense of community and friendship for me and others.
While HTC will always be a place of encouragement and vibrancy, I also want it to be a place where we can have real conversations about real things, because life is life. It’s not always perfect, vibrant, or sunshiney. Sometimes there are rains and thorns and heartaches – and the only way we can move forward back into the sunshine is to discuss the hard stuff.
P.S. How cute is this maxi dress from Rustin Pineapple Boutique? A fellow blogger friend started this shop up a few months ago and I was SO stoked to get my hands on this dress – it’s so comfortable for that summer heat and has great movement to it. It also layers so well with denim and this jacket from Old Navy is my new favorite because it’s got the cutest embroidery details. Both pieces are definitely going to be on repeat for me during this summer. Also, they are both on sale right now – so jump on that if you are in need of something super comfortable but still trendy and stylish!
Tell me something you WILL accomplish this summer in the comments below!
